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Coca-Cola Reserves a Massive Range of MAC Addresses

Posted by timothy on from the maytag-and-starbucks-champing-at-bit dept.

An anonymous reader writes "GNU MacChanger's developer has found by chance that The Coca-Cola company got a range of MAC addresses allocated at the OUI, the IEEE Registration Authority in charge of managing the MAC addresses spectrum. What would Coca-Cola want around 16 million MAC addresses reserved? What are they planning to use them for? Could this part of a strategy around the Internet-of-things concept?"

13 of 371 comments (clear)

  1. Not cans by Shatrat · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Vertically integrated vending machines?

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    09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
    1. Re:Not cans by Bengie · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Where do you put $1 coins when at the strip club?

    2. Re:Not cans by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      In the coin slut?

    3. Re:Not cans by mrbluejello · · Score: 5, Funny

      Make it hail!

    4. Re:Not cans by Rob+Bos · · Score: 5, Informative

      Never been to a strip club, but I did a quick google search and found a couple of threads on the subject.

      Two answers stood out - 1, some clubs issue coupons that you can use in place of money; the strippers just redeem them at the end of the shift. 2, use $5s, you goddamn cheapskate. :)

    5. Re:Not cans by fnj · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I can easily put 500$ in bills in my wallet

      Sigh. In ones and twos? I thought not. Complete red herring.

  2. yep vending machines by globaljustin · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It's for wireless enabled purchases at vending machines.

    I did an RFP for this in grad school. In our scenario the beverage company was working with AT&T to enable the wireless internet connection.

    They'll probably "partner" with other vendors of consumer goods...whatever the marketing people come up with.

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    Thank you Dave Raggett
    1. Re:yep vending machines by bws111 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Fountains are a good bet. For instance, a certain large, well-known company that owns theme parks and resorts has recently added RFID chips to the soda cups they sell. When you go to a self-service fountain, the fountain checks if the cup is allowed to be filled. They check to see if the cup is from this location, if it is within an allowed 'free refill' time, and if it is being used too often (you must wait a few minutes before it can be refilled). No more buying a single cup and walking around all day getting 'free refills'. No more buying a single cup then giving all 8 kids a soda by pouring from the purchased cup into your own cup over and over.

  3. Not particularly massive... by nadamucho · · Score: 5, Informative

    They were allocated a single 3-byte OUI, or prefix. When you realize that 16 million OUIs were originally available, it's like making a big deal that a company was granted a /24 IP range.

  4. Freestyle fountain machines by necro81 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Coke is rolling out their Freestyle fountain dispensing machines worldwide. Each one has the ability to phone home about inventory levels, maintenance logs, and what drinks are trending where. Coke doesn't do anything small - everything they do is done on a global scale. There are 100,000 - 200,000 fast food restaurants in the United States alone. It doesn't take much imagination to see how that could scale up to 16 million machines worldwide over the product life cycle.

  5. Re:Does Coca Cola own their own vending machines? by Andy+Dodd · · Score: 5, Informative

    Don't forget that a MAC address is 48 bits. The vendor ID portion is 24 bits - leaving 24 bits (approx. 16 million addresses) as the smallest range of addresses you can obtain if you obtain a single VID.

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    retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
  6. FFS, all I wanted was some delicious sugar water by paiute · · Score: 5, Funny

    GREETINGS, COCA-COLA CUSTOMER! PLEASE INSERT YOUR CREDIT OR DEBIT CARD TO GET STARTED WITH YOUR PURCHASE OF A DELICIOUS COCA-COLA PRODUCT.
    Uh - can't I just put in some quarters?
    I AM AN INTELLIGENT INTERNET-CONNECTED VENDING WORKSTATION. I DISPENSE DELICIOUS COCA-COLA PRODUCTS, CHANGE YOUR FACEBOOK STATUS TO 'CURRENTLY ENJOYING A FINE COCA-COLA OR OTHER DELICIOUS COCA-COLA PRODUCT', LIKE THE COCA-COLA COMPANY, TWEET 'CURRENTLY ENJOYING A FINE COCA-COLA OR OTHER DELICIOUS COCA-COLA PRODUCT', SEND A PHOTO OF YOU OPENING YOUR COCA-COLA OR OTHER DELICIOUS COCA-COLA PRODUCT TO SNAPCHAT -
    Okay, okay! Here's my Visa card.
    THE VISA CARD ISSUER IS REPLYING THAT THERE IS SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY ON THIS CARD. IT WAS USED TO MAKE A PURCHASE IN THE AMOUNT OF FORTY-FIVE DOLLARS AND ZERO FIVE CENTS IN SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, FAR FROM THE ZIPCODE ON YOUR BILLING ADDRESS.
    Yeah, I bought something off of Amazon - Oh, nevermind... here's another card.
    WHAT IS THE PIN FOR THIS CARD?
    7734
    THAT PIN IS NOT RECOGNIZED FOR THIS DEBIT CARD.
    It's not a debit card. It's an ATM card.
    I CANNOT ACCEPT ATM CARDS DUE TO FEDERAL BANKING REGULATIONS. PLEASE INSERT A DEBIT CARD.
    I don't use a debit card. They don't protect my account. It could be stolen and all the money in my account - Oh, nevermind. Do you take dollar bills?
    I AM AN INTELLIGENT INTERNET-CONNECTED VENDING WORKSTATION. I DISPENSE DELICIOUS COCA-COLA PRODUCTS, CHANGE YOUR FACEBOOK STATUS TO 'CURRENTLY ENJOYING A FINE COCA-COLA OR OTHER DELICIOUS COCA-COLA PRODUCT', LIKE THE COCA-COLA COMPANY, TWEET 'CURRENTLY ENJOYING A FINE COCA-COLA OR OTHER DELICIOUS COCA-COLA PRODUCT', SEND A PHOTO OF YOU-
    I know! I know! You already said that! You don't accept any cash at all?
    DO YOU HAVE A PAYPAL ACCOUNT?
    Yes, unfortunately I do.
    PLEASE ENTER YOUR NAME AND BILLING ADDRESS ON YOUR PAYPAL ACCOUNT. PRESS THE GREEN 'I ACCEPT AND AGREE' BUTTON ON THE TOUCHSCREEN AND YOUR FINE COCA-COLA OR OTHER DELICIOUS COCA-COLA PRODUCT WILL BE BILLED TO YOUR PAYPAL ACCOUNT.
    Okay...I guess...
    THANK YOU FOR SELECTING COCA-COLA. YOUR BEVERAGE WILL BE DISPENSED SHORTLY...WAITING FOR GOOGLE ANALYTICS....LOADING...CONNECTING TO FACEBOOK.API....WAITING...LOADING...
    Forget it. I should be dieting anyway.
    YOU HAVE PUSHED THE RED 'CANCEL TRANSACTION' BUTTON. ARE YOU SURE?
    Yes, I don't want a Coke anymore. Besides, I can't figure out a way to buy one even if I still did.
    DO YOU HAVE A BITCOIN WALLET?
    Look - it's starting to snow. I am going to go over and scrape some together and let it melt in my mouth. Do you want some?
    WOULD YOU BE WILLING TO TAKE A SHORT FIVE MINUTE SURVEY REGARDING OUR INTERACTION TODAY? YOU WILL BE ENTERED IN A DRAWING TO WIN FIFTY DOLLARS WORTH OF COCA-COLA OR OTHER DELICIOUS COCA-COLA PRODUCT...

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  7. Isn't it obvious? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's a trademark thing. They just wanted MAC addresses starting with C0:CA:C0:1A.